Virtual Distancing

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Sanity check

There's a lengthy post coming up about self help, but I've decided to document some ventures and experimentation.

The bin is full.

Lately, I feel like I'm being bombarded with news about anything and everything, and it has left an invisible, yet palpable load on the brain. I think about 10 years ago when there was no bother except myself, things to do in a day, a week, a month etc, or just idle and laze around. Now, the mind thinks about the big, but also all the poison, the acrimony, the hatred, scandals, controversy, and just about everything that's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Negativity, and controversy are easy to observe and hard to forget. It's like a car crash video you stumble upon; you fear and cringe, yet you are drawn to watch it, and you're finally left with a bitter aftertaste. It's time to jettison some load.

Pointless awareness

What's even the point of news, and when did it grow all pervasive? I don't need to know what scandals happened, what conspiracies were uncovered, what new conversation was taken out of context, what phenomenon was being cancelled, what insignificant piece of information was the most important topic of discussion for a whole week before the next big thing supplanted it. I don't need all of this, I don't need to stay on top of this. Most of it is static that doesn't need mental effort, the exceptions being science, or tech, or any innovation that moves the world engine forward.

Bliss

My perfect state of bliss would be: I wake up at a remote place, surrounded by trees and nature I don't pick up the phone to check news, but only to play some music, as I loiter around, or write in my journal I introspect, retrospect and make plans for the future. I'm all alone, all my thoughts are uninterrupted, unfiltered and unfettered I ride my bike over hills and curves, I stop for lakes or for food, then I ride some more I think of ideas for products, apps, stories, screenplays, or plans of action I theorize about life, space, consciousness, I go for twilight walks. I read books, lots of them. I have food and go to bed to some podcast. If it's hardcore mode, I pledge to not interact with tech for a week or so, no phones no computers, not even artificial lights, music being the only exception. Just imagine!

Baby steps

The best I can start off is through small steps that ease me into the zen way of life. The Sage way, the Saint ness. The zone, the flow state. I need to begin right now, so I finally stop consuming and start living. Let's do this, right now. No social media No news No reading comments! Not even skimming though hackernews, for sometime. Time to focus on work, and career endeavors. Time to blog, vlog and document my state of mind,and reflect. Time to get lost in thought, in the deep recess of my mind. Let's start back from Square Zero.